Server device, in-vehicle device, information processing method, and storage medium

ABSTRACT

A server device configured to communicate with a communication device mounted in a vehicle, the server device includes a controller configured to execute acquiring a position of an emergency vehicle, specifying a non-emergency vehicle at a predetermined distance from the position of the emergency vehicle, and transmitting, to a communication device mounted in the non-emergency vehicle, a request as information requiring the non-emergency vehicle to stop use of wireless communication.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

The present application is a Continuation of U.S. patent applicationSer. No. 16/898,510, filed on Jun. 11, 2020, which claims priority toJapanese Patent Application No. 2019/126875, filed on Jul. 8, 2019. Thecontents of these applications are incorporated herein by reference intheir entirety.

INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

The disclosure of Japanese Patent Application No. 2019-126875 filed onJul. 8, 2019 including the specification, drawings and abstract isincorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND 1. Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to a server device, an in-vehicle device,an information processing method, and a storage medium.

2. Description of Related Art

In recent years, communication techniques for a vehicle, such asVehicle-to-Everything (V2X), have been developed. Accordingly, vehiclesin which equipment capable of performing communication with externalequipment is mounted have also been developed. With a vehicle in whichsuch equipment is mounted, for example, an emergency vehicle cantransmit positional information of the host vehicle to a generalvehicle, and the general vehicle that receives the positionalinformation of the emergency vehicle can notify a driver of thepositional information of the emergency vehicle (for example, seeJapanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2018-160221 (JP2018-160221 A)).

SUMMARY

Incidentally, in order for the emergency vehicle to quickly arrive at adestination or in order for an occupant of the emergency vehicle toperform quick and accurate work at the destination, acquisition ofinformation through wireless communication while the emergency vehicleis moving is a key factor. However, the emergency vehicle is not alwaystraveling in an area where wireless communication of a large-capacityand high-speed communication system is usable. A traveling route of theemergency vehicle deviates from the area, the quality of communicationto be performed by a communication device mounted in the emergencyvehicle may be degraded. In particular, in a case where wirelesscommunication with a large data transfer amount is performed in avehicle near the emergency vehicle, communication traffic increases, andthe quality of communication to be performed by the communication deviceof the emergency vehicle is likely to be degraded. As a result, there isa possibility that acquisition of information through wirelesscommunication while the emergency vehicle is moving is not suitablyperformed.

The disclosure provides a technique effective in securing the quality ofcommunication to be performed by a communication device mounted in anemergency vehicle.

A server device according to a first aspect of the disclosure isconfigured to communicate with a communication device mounted in avehicle. The server device includes a controller configured to executeacquiring a position of an emergency vehicle, specifying a non-emergencyvehicle at a predetermined distance from the position of the emergencyvehicle, and transmitting, to a communication device mounted in thenon-emergency vehicle, a communication stop request as information forprompting an occupant of the non-emergency vehicle to stop use ofwireless communication.

An in-vehicle device according to a second aspect of the disclosure ismounted in an emergency vehicle and configured to communicate with adevice outside the emergency vehicle. The in-vehicle device includes acontroller configured to execute transmitting, to a communication devicemounted in a non-emergency vehicle, a communication stop request asinformation for prompting an occupant of the non-emergency vehicle at apredetermined distance from a position of the emergency vehicle to stopuse of wireless communication while the emergency vehicle is travelingfor an emergency.

An in-vehicle device according to a third aspect of the disclosure ismounted in a non-emergency vehicle and configured to communicate with adevice outside the non-emergency vehicle. The in-vehicle devicecharacterized by comprising a controller configured to execute receivinga communication stop request as information for prompting an occupant ofthe non-emergency vehicle to stop use of wireless communication, andprompting the occupant of the non-emergency vehicle to stop the use ofthe wireless communication when receiving the communication stoprequest.

The disclosure also relates to an information processing methodincluding at least a part of the above-described processing or relatesto an information processing program that implements the method or anon-transitory storage medium that stores the information processingprogram. For example, an information processing method according to afourth aspect of the disclosure includes acquiring, by a computer, aposition of an emergency vehicle, specifying, by the computer, anon-emergency vehicle at a predetermined distance from the position ofthe emergency vehicle, and transmitting, by the computer, acommunication stop request as information for prompting an occupant ofthe non-emergency vehicle to stop use of wireless communication to acommunication device mounted in the non-emergency vehicle.

A non-transitory storage medium according to a fifth aspect of thedisclosure stores instructions that are executable by one or moreprocessors and that cause the one or more processors to performfunctions including: acquiring a position of an emergency vehicle;specifying a non-emergency vehicle at a predetermined distance from theposition of the emergency vehicle; and transmitting a communication stoprequest as information for prompting an occupant of the non-emergencyvehicle to stop use of wireless communication to a communication devicemounted in the non-emergency vehicle.

According to the aspects of the disclosure, it is possible to provide atechnique effective in securing the quality of communication to beperformed by a communication device of an emergency vehicle.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Features, advantages, and technical and industrial significance ofexemplary embodiments of the disclosure will be described below withreference to the accompanying drawings, in which like numerals denotelike elements, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating the outline of a vehicle managementsystem;

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration ofeach of a first in-vehicle device, a second in-vehicle device, and aserver device in a first embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of theserver device;

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a configuration example of a positionalinformation table;

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an execution method of specificationprocessing;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram showing the functional configuration of thesecond in-vehicle device;

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a processing flow that is executed by theserver device in the first embodiment;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart showing a processing flow that is executed by theserver device in a modification example of the first embodiment;

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of map information in which anarea where a predetermined communication system is usable isidentifiable;

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration ofeach of a first in-vehicle device, a second in-vehicle device, and aserver device in a second embodiment; and

FIG. 11 is a diagram showing the functional configuration of the firstin-vehicle device in the second embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

An embodiment of the disclosure relates to a server device that is ableto perform communication with a communication device mounted in avehicle. Here, in a vehicle (emergency vehicle) that travels on a roadto achieve an emergency task, such as a first-aid vehicle, afirefighting vehicle, or a police vehicle, in a case where an occupantof the emergency vehicle can accurately ascertain congestion informationof the road or the details (a state of a person to be rescued, asituation of damage to a destination, and the like) of an emergency, itis possible to allow the emergency vehicle to quickly arrive at thedestination, and to allow the occupant of the emergency vehicle toquickly and accurately perform rescue activities when the emergencyvehicle arrives at the destination. For this reason, while the emergencyvehicle is moving, a communication device mounted in the emergencyvehicle needs to perform high-quality and stable communication. However,the emergency vehicle is not always traveling in an area where wirelesscommunication of a large-capacity and high-speed communication system isusable. When a traveling route of the emergency vehicle deviates fromthe above-described area, the quality of communication to be performedby the communication device of the emergency vehicle may be degraded. Inparticular, when the number of vehicles that perform wirelesscommunication near the emergency vehicle is large or when wirelesscommunication with a large data transfer amount is performed in avehicle near the emergency vehicle, or the like, the communicationquality may be degraded due to an increase in communication traffic.

In contrast, in the server device according to the embodiment of thedisclosure, a controller acquires a position of the emergency vehicleand specifies a non-emergency vehicle at a predetermined distance fromthe position of the emergency vehicle. The term “predetermined distance”used herein is a distance at which, in a case where wirelesscommunication is performed in the non-emergency vehicle within thepredetermined distance from the position of the emergency vehicle, thequality of communication to be performed by the communication device ofthe emergency vehicle is assumed to be affected, and is determined inadvance based on a result or the like of an experiment or a simulation.The controller transmits a communication stop request to a communicationdevice mounted in the specified non-emergency vehicle. The term“communication stop request” used herein is information for prompting anoccupant of the non-emergency vehicle to stop use of wirelesscommunication. With this, in the non-emergency vehicle that receives thecommunication stop request, it is possible to make the occupant of thenon-emergency vehicle recognize the approach of the emergency vehicleand stop the use of wireless communication. As a result, it is possibleto suppress an increase in communication traffic near the emergencyvehicle. Thus, it is possible to allow the communication device of theemergency vehicle to perform high-quality and stable communication. Thatis, it is possible to secure the quality of communication to beperformed by the communication device of the emergency vehicle. The term“the stop of the use of wireless communication” in the disclosure is notlimited to an aspect for solely wireless communication using thecommunication device (in-vehicle device) mounted in the non-emergencyvehicle, and may be an aspect for wireless communication using aterminal carried by the occupant of the non-emergency vehicle.

Here, in a case where a use stop time of wireless communication in thenon-emergency vehicle is extended needlessly, there is a possibilitythat the convenience of the occupant is degraded. Thus, after thedistance between the non-emergency vehicle and the emergency vehicle isgreater than the predetermined distance, it is suitable to rapidlyrelease the stop of the use of wireless communication. In contrast, amethod in which the server device transmits, to the in-vehicle device ofthe non-emergency vehicle, information to the effect that the stop ofthe use of wireless communication is releasable when the distancebetween the non-emergency vehicle and the emergency vehicle is greaterthan the predetermined distance is considered. However, in a case wherethe occupant of the non-emergency vehicle turns off a wirelesscommunication function of the in-vehicle device upon receiving thecommunication stop request, the in-vehicle device cannot receiveinformation described above, and there is a possibility that theoccupant of the non-emergency vehicle misses a timing of releasing thestop of the use of wireless communication. Accordingly, informationindicating a time (communication stop time) during which the use ofwireless communication is stopped may be included in the communicationstop request transmitted from the server device to the communicationdevice of the non-emergency vehicle. The term “communication stop time”used herein is, for example, a predicted time needed from when thedistance between the emergency vehicle and the non-emergency vehicle isshortened within the predetermined distance until the distance betweenthe emergency vehicle and the non-emergency vehicle is widened to adistance greater than the predetermined distance or a time obtained byadding a margin to the predicted time. Such a communication stop timecan be calculated based on at least one of a traveling speed of theemergency vehicle, congestion information of a route along which theemergency vehicle is traveling, and the like. In a case where thecommunication stop time calculated in such a manner is included in thecommunication stop request, the occupant of the non-emergency vehiclecan restart the use of wireless communication using the communicationstop time as a reference. With this, it is possible to minimizedegradation of the convenience of the occupant of the non-emergencyvehicle.

The server device according to the embodiment of the disclosure may nottransmit the communication stop request to the in-vehicle device of thenon-emergency vehicle at the predetermined distance from the position ofthe emergency vehicle in a case where the position of the emergencyvehicle is within an area where a predetermined communication system isusable. That is, the server device may transmit the communication stoprequest to the in-vehicle device of the non-emergency vehicle within thepredetermined distance from the position of the emergency vehicle solelywhen the position of the emergency vehicle deviates from the area wherethe predetermined communication system is usable. The term“predetermined communication system” used herein is, for example, acommunication system in which high-speed and large-capacity wirelesscommunication can be performed, and even though wireless communicationwith a comparatively large data transfer amount is performed in thenon-emergency vehicle near the emergency vehicle, the quality ofwireless communication can be secured in the emergency vehicle, such as5th-Generation (5G) or a mobile communication standard after 5G.According to such a configuration, in a case where the position of theemergency vehicle is within the area where the predeterminedcommunication system is usable, it is possible to allow wirelesscommunication to be continuously used in the non-emergency vehiclewithin the predetermined distance from the position of the emergencyvehicle while securing the quality of wireless communication in theemergency vehicle. With this, it is possible to further minimizedegradation of the convenience of the occupant of the non-emergencyvehicle.

At least a pan of processing that is executed by the server device asdescribed above may be executed by the in-vehicle device of theemergency vehicle. The term “in-vehicle device” used herein is a devicehaving a function of performing communication with equipment outside theemergency vehicle. Then, the in-vehicle device may transmit thecommunication stop request to the communication device of thenon-emergency vehicle within the predetermined distance from theposition of the emergency vehicle while the emergency vehicle istraveling for an emergency. In this case, the in-vehicle device maytransmit the communication stop request using, for example, usingshort-distance communication in which a communicable distance is thesame as the predetermined distance. With this, even though processingfor specifying the non-emergency vehicle within the predetermineddistance from the position of the emergency vehicle is not executed onthe emergency vehicle side, it is possible to transmit the communicationstop request solely to the non-emergency vehicle within thepredetermined distance from the position of the emergency vehicle. As amethod of implementing short-distance communication described above, forexample, a method using data communication based on a communicationstandard, such as a Bluetooth (Registered Trademark) Low Energy standard(hereinafter, referred to as BLE), Near Field Communication (NFC), UltraWideband (UWB), or Wi-Fi (Registered Trademark), can be exemplified.

Hereinafter, a specific embodiment of the disclosure will be describedreferring to the drawings. The dimensions, materials, shapes, relativearrangements, and the like of components described in the embodiment arenot intended to limit the scope of the disclosure to these alone inparticular as long as there are no specific statements.

First Embodiment

In the embodiment, an example where the disclosure is applied to asystem (hereinafter, referred to as a “vehicle management system”) thatmanages vehicles traveling on a road will be described. The vehicles tobe managed by the vehicle management system include emergency vehicles(for example, vehicles for first-aid (first-aid vehicles), vehicles forfirefighting (firefighting vehicles), vehicles for police (policevehicles), and the like)), and non-emergency vehicles (for example,passenger vehicles or commercial vehicles).

Outline of Vehicle Management System

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing the schematic configuration of the vehiclemanagement system. The vehicle management system in the embodimentincludes an in-vehicle device 100 (hereinafter, referred to as a “firstin-vehicle device 100”) mounted in an emergency vehicle 10, anin-vehicle device 200 (hereinafter, referred to as a “second in-vehicledevice 200”) mounted in a non-emergency vehicle 20, and a server device300. The first in-vehicle device 100 and the second in-vehicle device200 can be connected to a network N1 using, for example, mobilecommunication, such as 5G or Long Term Evolution (LTE), narrowbandcommunication, such as Dedicated Short Range Communications (DSRC), orwireless communication, such as Wi-Fi (Registered Trademark). The serverdevice 300 can be connected to the network N1 using wired communicationor wireless communication. As the network N1, for example, a wide areanetwork (WAN) as a worldwide public communication network, such as theInternet, or other communication networks can be employed. In theexample shown in FIG. 1 , although solely one emergency vehicle 10 andsolely one non-emergency vehicle 20 are shown, a plurality of emergencyvehicles 10 and a plurality of non-emergency vehicles 20 may beprovided.

The first in-vehicle device 100 acquires a current position of theemergency vehicle 10 and transmits information (positional information)indicating the acquired current position to the server device 300. Theacquisition of the current position and the transmission of thepositional information in the first in-vehicle device 100 are repeatedlyperformed in a predetermined cycle when the emergency vehicle 10 is inan emergency traveling state.

The second in-vehicle device 200 acquires a current position of thenon-emergency vehicle 20 and transmits information (positionalinformation) indicating the acquired current position to the serverdevice 300. The acquisition of the current position and the transmissionof the positional information in the second in-vehicle device 200 arerepeatedly performed in a predetermined cycle when the non-emergencyvehicle 20 is in an operation state (for example, a state in which anignition switch is turned on).

The server device 300 specifies the non-emergency vehicle 20 within apredetermined distance from the current position of the emergencyvehicle 10 based on the positional information received from the firstin-vehicle device 100 and the positional information received from thesecond in-vehicle device 200. Then, the server device 300 transmits acommunication stop request to the second in-vehicle device 200 of thespecified non-emergency vehicle 20. The term “communication stoprequest” in the example is information for prompting an occupant of thespecified non-emergency vehicle to stop use of wireless communication.The communication stop request in the example is information for makingthe second in-vehicle device 200 execute processing for prompting theoccupant to stop the use of wireless communication. The secondin-vehicle device 200 that receives such a communication stop requestexecutes processing for notifying the occupant of the approach of theemergency vehicle 10 and the processing for prompting the occupant tostop the use of wireless communication. Through the processing, it ispossible to make the occupant of the non-emergency vehicle 20 recognizethe approach of the emergency vehicle 10 and to stop the use of wirelesscommunication in the second in-vehicle device 200 or a portable terminal(a smartphone, a tablet terminal, a wearable terminal, or the likecarried with the occupant). As a result, it is possible to reducecommunication traffic near the emergency vehicle 10.

Hardware Configuration

FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration ofeach of the first in-vehicle device 100, the second in-vehicle device200, and the server device 300.

The server device 300 has the configuration of a general computer. Thatis, the server device 300 has a processor 301, a main storage unit 302,an auxiliary storage unit 303, and a communication unit 304. The unitsare connected to one another by a bus. The main storage unit 302 and theauxiliary storage unit 303 are computer-readable recording mediums. Thehardware configuration of the computer is not limited to the exampleshown in FIG. 2 , and components may be suitably omitted, replaced, andadded.

In the server device 300, the processor 301 loads a program stored in arecording medium into a work area of the main storage unit 302 andexecutes the program, and respective functional constituent units andthe like are controlled with the execution of the program, whereby afunction conforming to a predetermined purpose is implemented.

The processor 301 is, for example, a central processing unit (CPU) or adigital signal processor (DSP). The processor 301 controls the serverdevice 300 and performs arithmetic operations of various kinds ofinformation processing. The main storage unit 302 includes, for example,a random access memory (RAM) or a read only memory (ROM). The auxiliarystorage unit 303 is, for example, an erasable programmable ROM (EPROM)or a hard disk drive (HDD). The auxiliary storage unit 303 can include aremovable medium, that is, a portable recording medium. The removablemedium is, for example, a universal serial bus (USB) memory or a discrecording medium, such as a compact disc (CD) or a digital versatiledisc (DVD).

The auxiliary storage unit 303 stores various programs, various kinds ofdata, and various tables in a recording medium in a readable andwritable manner. In the auxiliary storage unit 303, an operating system(OS), various programs, various tables, and the like are stored. A partor all of the above-described information may be stored in the mainstorage unit 302. Information that is stored in the main storage unit302 may be stored in the auxiliary storage unit 303.

The communication unit 304 performs transmission and reception ofinformation between an external device and the server device 300. Thecommunication unit 304 is, for example, a local area network (LAN)interface board or a wireless communication circuit for wirelesscommunication. The LAN interface board or the wireless communicationcircuit is connected to the network N1.

A series of processing that is executed by the server device 300configured as above can be executed by hardware, but can also beexecuted by software.

Next, the first in-vehicle device 100 is, for example, a car navigationsystem that is mounted in the emergency vehicle 10 and can be connectedto the server device 300 through the network N1. The first in-vehicledevice 100 may be a personal computer (PC) that is connected to theserver device 300 through the network N1. The first in-vehicle device100 may be, for example, a small computer that can be carried with theoccupant of the emergency vehicle 10, such as a smartphone, a mobilephone, a tablet terminal, a personal digital assistant, or a wearablecomputer (a smart watch or the like).

As shown in FIG. 2 , the first in-vehicle device 100 has a processor101, a main storage unit 102, an auxiliary storage unit 103, a displayunit 104, an input unit 105, a position acquisition unit 106, and acommunication unit 107. The processor 101, the main storage unit 102,and the auxiliary storage unit 103 are the same as the processor 301,the main storage unit 302, and the auxiliary storage unit 303 of theserver device 300, and thus, description thereof will not be repeated.The display unit 104 is, for example, a liquid crystal display (LCD), anelectroluminescence (EL) panel, or the like. The input unit 105includes, for example, a touch panel or push buttons capable ofinputting symbols, such as characters, a microphone capable of inputtingvoice, and the like. The position acquisition unit 106 is equipment thatacquires a current position of the first in-vehicle device 100 (thecurrent position of the emergency vehicle 10), and typically includes aGPS receiver and the like. The communication unit 107 is a communicationcircuit that accesses the network N1 using, for example, wirelesscommunication, such as a mobile communication service, and performs datacommunication with the server device 300 and the like.

The second in-vehicle device 200 is, for example, a car navigationsystem that is mounted in the non-emergency vehicle 20 and can beconnected to the server device 300 through the network N1. The secondin-vehicle device 200 may be a personal computer (PC) that is connectedto the server device 300 through the network N1. The second in-vehicledevice 200 may be, for example, a small computer that can be carriedwith the occupant of the non-emergency vehicle 20, such as a smartphone,a mobile phone, a tablet terminal, a personal digital assistant, or awearable computer (a smart watch or the like).

As shown in FIG. 2 , the second in-vehicle device 200 has a processor201, a main storage unit 202, an auxiliary storage unit 203, a displayunit 204, an input unit 205, a position acquisition unit 206, and acommunication unit 207. The processor 201, the main storage unit 202,the auxiliary storage unit 203, the display unit 204, the input unit205, the position acquisition unit 206, and the communication unit 207are the same as the processor 101, the main storage unit 102, theauxiliary storage unit 103, the display unit 104, the input unit 105,the position acquisition unit 106, and the communication unit 107 of thefirst in-vehicle device 100, and thus, description thereof will not berepeated.

Functional Configuration of Server Device

Here, the functional configuration of the server device 300 will bedescribed referring to FIG. 3 . As shown in FIG. 3 , the server device300 of the embodiment includes, as functional components, an emergencyvehicle position acquisition unit F310, a non-emergency vehiclespecification unit F320, a communication stop request generation unitF330, and a positional information management database D310. Theemergency vehicle position acquisition unit F310, the non-emergencyvehicle specification unit F320, and the communication stop requestgeneration unit F330 are formed by the processor 301 of the serverdevice 300 executing a computer program on the main storage unit 302.Any one or a part of the emergency vehicle position acquisition unitF310, the non-emergency vehicle specification unit F320, and thecommunication stop request generation unit F330 may be formed by ahardware circuit. The positional information management database D310 isconstructed by a program of a database management system (DBMS) executedby the processor 301 of the server device 300 managing data stored inthe auxiliary storage unit 303. Such a positional information managementdatabase D310 is, for example, a relational database.

Any one of the functional components of the server device 300 or a partof the processing may be executed by another computer connected to thenetwork N1. For example, each kind of processing included in theemergency vehicle position acquisition unit F310, each kind ofprocessing included in the non-emergency vehicle specification unitF320, and each kind of processing included in the communication stoprequest generation unit F330 may be executed by separate computers.

In the positional information management database D310, information foridentifying each non-emergency vehicle 20 under the management of theserver device 300 and the current position of each non-emergency vehicle20 are associated with each other. Here, a configuration example ofinformation stored in the positional information management databaseD310 will be described referring to FIG. 4 . FIG. 4 is a diagram showingthe table configuration of information stored in the positionalinformation management database D310. The configuration of a table(hereinafter, also referred to as a “positional information table”)stored in the positional information management database D310 is notlimited to the example shown in FIG. 4 , and fields may be suitablyadded, changed, and deleted.

The positional information table shown in FIG. 4 has fields of vehicleID, positional information, reception date and time, and the like. Inthe vehicle ID field, information (vehicle ID) for allowing the serverdevice 300 to identify each non-emergency vehicle 20 is registered. Thevehicle ID registered in the vehicle ID field may be, for example,information indicating a communication address of the second in-vehicledevice 200 mounted in each non-emergency vehicle 20. In the positionalinformation field, information indicating the current position of eachnon-emergency vehicle 20 is registered. The positional informationregistered in the positional information field may be, for example,information indicating an address where each non-emergency vehicle 20 ispositioned or information indicating coordinates (latitude andlongitude) of a place where each non-emergency vehicle 20 is positionedon a map. In the reception date and time field, information indicatingdate and time on which the server device 300 receives information inputto the positional information field is registered. It is assumed thatinformation input to the positional information field and the receptiondate and time field are updated each time server device 300 receives thepositional information from each non-emergency vehicle 20 (in theabove-described predetermined cycle).

The emergency vehicle position acquisition unit F310 acquires thecurrent position of the emergency vehicle 10 during emergency traveling.Specifically, the emergency vehicle position acquisition unit F310receives the positional information transmitted from the firstin-vehicle device 100 of the emergency vehicle 10 during emergencytraveling in each predetermined cycle through the communication unit 304to acquire the current position of the emergency vehicle 10 duringemergency traveling. The current position acquired in such a manner isdelivered from the emergency vehicle position acquisition unit F310 tothe non-emergency vehicle specification unit F320.

The non-emergency vehicle specification unit F320 specifies thenon-emergency vehicle 20 within the predetermined distance from thecurrent position of the emergency vehicle 10 based on the currentposition of the emergency vehicle 10 acquired by the emergency vehicleposition acquisition unit F310 (hereinafter, also referred to as“specification processing”). Specifically, the non-emergency vehiclespecification unit F320 accesses the positional information managementdatabase D310 to extract all positional information tables where thepositional information belonging to the range within the predetermineddistance from the current position of the emergency vehicle 10 isregistered in the positional information field. Then, the non-emergencyvehicle specification unit F320 extracts the vehicle IDs registered inthe vehicle ID fields of the extracted positional information tables tospecify the non-emergency vehicles 20 within the predetermined distancefrom the current position of the emergency vehicle 10.

Here, an example of the specification processing in the non-emergencyvehicle specification unit F320 will be described referring to FIG. 5 .FIG. 5 is a diagram schematically showing the positional relationshipbetween the current position of the emergency vehicle and thenon-emergency vehicle. P0 in FIG. 5 indicates the current position ofthe emergency vehicle, and P1 to P5 in FIG. 5 indicate the positions offive non-emergency vehicles. L1 in FIG. 5 corresponds to thepredetermined distance. In the example shown in FIG. 5 , while P1, P2,and P3 belong to a range RO of a radius L1, centering on the currentposition P0 of the emergency vehicle, P4 and P5 do not belong to therange RO. Thus, the non-emergency vehicle specification unit F320 mayextract, from among the positional information tables stored in thepositional information management database D310, the positionalinformation table where information indicating the position of P1 isregistered in the positional information field, the positionalinformation table where information indicating the position of P2 isregistered in the positional information field, and the positionalinformation table where information indicating the position of P3 isregistered in the positional information field. Then, the non-emergencyvehicle specification unit F320 may extract the vehicle ID registered inthe vehicle ID field of each of the extracted three positionalinformation tables to specify the non-emergency vehicles in the range ROwithin the predetermined distance L1 from the current position P0 of theemergency vehicle. The vehicle ID of each of the non-emergency vehiclesspecified in such a manner is delivered from the non-emergency vehiclespecification unit F320 to the communication stop request generationunit F330. The specification processing in the non-emergency vehiclespecification unit F320 is executed each time the server device 300receives the positional information transmitted from the firstin-vehicle device 100 in each predetermined cycle.

The communication stop request generation unit F330 generates thecommunication stop request. Then, the communication stop requestgeneration unit F330 transmits the generated communication stop requestto the second in-vehicle device 200 of each of the non-emergencyvehicles 20 specified by the non-emergency vehicle specification unitF320. The communication stop request in the example is information forprompting the occupant of each of the non-emergency vehicles 20 to stopthe use of wireless communication while notifying the occupant of eachof the non-emergency vehicles 20 of the approach of the emergencyvehicle 10. Specifically, the communication stop request includes acommand for making the second in-vehicle device 200 of each of thenon-emergency vehicles 20 execute the processing for notifying theoccupant of each of the non-emergency vehicles 20 of the approach of theemergency vehicle 10 and the processing for prompting the occupant ofeach of the non-emergency vehicles 20 to stop the use of wirelesscommunication. The communication stop request may include informationfor notifying the occupant of each of the non-emergency vehicles of thetime (communication stop time) for which the use of wirelesscommunication is stopped. That is, the communication stop request mayinclude a command for making the second in-vehicle device 200 of each ofthe non-emergency vehicles 20 execute the processing for notifying theoccupant of each of the non-emergency vehicles 20 of the communicationstop time, in addition to the command for making the second in-vehicledevice 200 of each of the non-emergency vehicles 20 execute theprocessing for notifying the occupant of each of the non-emergencyvehicles 20 of the approach of the emergency vehicle 10 and theprocessing for prompting the occupant of each of the non-emergencyvehicles 20 to stop the use of wireless communication. The communicationstop request generated in such a manner is transmitted to the secondin-vehicle device 200 of each of the non-emergency vehicles 20 specifiedby the non-emergency vehicle specification unit F320 through thecommunication unit 304. The generation processing of the communicationstop request and the transmission processing of the communication stoprequest in the communication stop request generation unit F330 areexecuted each time the server device 300 receives the positionalinformation transmitted from the first in-vehicle device 100 in eachpredetermined cycle.

Functional Configuration of Second In-Vehicle Device

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating the functional configuration of thesecond in-vehicle device 200. As shown in FIG. 6 , the second in-vehicledevice 200 in the example includes, as functional components, acommunication stop request receiver F210 and a communication stoprequest processing unit F220. The communication stop request receiverF210 and the communication stop request processing unit F220 are formedby the processor 201 of the second in-vehicle device 200 executing thecomputer program on the main storage unit 202. Any one of the functionalcomponents or a part of the processing may be executed by a hardwarecircuit.

The communication stop request receiver F210 receives the communicationstop request, which is transmitted from the server device 300, throughthe communication unit 207. The communication stop request received insuch a manner is delivered from the communication stop request receiverF210 to the communication stop request processing unit F220.

The communication stop request processing unit F220 executes processingaccording to the communication stop request when the communication stoprequest is received from the communication stop request receiver F210.As described above, the communication stop request in the exampleincludes the command for making the second in-vehicle device 200 executethe processing for notifying the occupant of the non-emergency vehicle20 of the approach of the emergency vehicle 10 and the processing forprompting the occupant of the non-emergency vehicle 20 to stop the useof wireless communication. Accordingly, the communication stop requestprocessing unit F220 makes the display unit 204 display, for example,character information for notifying of the approach of the emergencyvehicle 10 and character information for prompting to stop the use ofwireless communication. The communication stop request processing unitF220 may make a voice output device, such as a speaker mounted in thenon-emergency vehicle 20, output a voice message for notifying of theapproach of the emergency vehicle 10 and a voice message for promptingto stop the use of wireless communication. The communication stoprequest processing unit F220 may the display unit 204 display thecharacter information for notifying of the approach of the emergencyvehicle 10 and the character information for prompting to stop the useof wireless communication and may make the voice output device outputthe voice message for notifying of the approach of the emergency vehicle10 and the voice message for prompting to stop the use of wirelesscommunication.

Flow of Processing

Next, a flow of processing that is executed by the server device 300 inthe embodiment will be described referring to FIG. 7 . FIG. 7 is aflowchart showing a processing flow that is executed by the serverdevice 300 with the reception of the positional information (informationindicating the current position of the emergency vehicle 10) transmittedfrom the first in-vehicle device 100 as a trigger.

In the processing flow of FIG. 7 , in a case where the communicationunit 304 of the server device 300 receives the positional informationtransmitted from the first in-vehicle device 100 of the emergencyvehicle 10 during emergency traveling, the emergency vehicle positionacquisition unit F310 acquires the current position of the emergencyvehicle 10 during emergency traveling from the positional information(Step S101). The current position of the emergency vehicle 10 acquiredin such a manner is delivered from the emergency vehicle positionacquisition unit F310 to the non-emergency vehicle specification unitF320.

The non-emergency vehicle specification unit F320 specifies thenon-emergency vehicle 20 within the predetermined distance from thecurrent position of the emergency vehicle 10 (Step S102). In detail, asdescribed referring to FIG. 5 , the non-emergency vehicle specificationunit F320 accesses the positional information management database D310based on the current position of the emergency vehicle 10 to extract allpositional information tables where the positional information belongingto the range within the predetermined distance from the current positionof the emergency vehicle is registered in the positional informationfield. Subsequently, the non-emergency vehicle specification unit F320extracts the vehicle ID registered in the vehicle ID field of each ofthe extracted positional information tables. The vehicle ID extracted insuch a manner is delivered from the non-emergency vehicle specificationunit F320 to the communication stop request generation unit F330.

The communication stop request generation unit F330 generates thecommunication stop request including the command for making the secondin-vehicle device 200 execute the processing for notifying the occupantof the non-emergency vehicle of the approach of the emergency vehicle 10and the command for making the second in-vehicle device 200 execute theprocessing for prompting the occupant of the non-emergency vehicle 20 tostop the use of wireless communication (Step S103). The communicationstop request generation unit F330 may generate the communication stoprequest including the command for making the second in-vehicle device200 execute the processing for notifying the occupant of thenon-emergency vehicle 20 of the communication stop time, in addition tothe command for making the second in-vehicle device 200 execute theprocessing for notifying the occupant of the non-emergency vehicle ofthe approach of the emergency vehicle 10 and the command for making thesecond in-vehicle device 200 execute the processing for prompting theoccupant of the non-emergency vehicle 20 to stop the use of wirelesscommunication. In this case, the communication stop request generationunit F330 may calculate the communication stop time based on thetraveling speed of the emergency vehicle 10, the congestion informationof the route along which the emergency vehicle 10 is traveling, or thelike. For example, when the traveling speed of the emergency vehicle 10is high, calculation may be performed such that the communication stoptime is shorter than when the traveling speed of the emergency vehicle10 is low. Furthermore, when the degree of congestion of the route alongwhich the emergency vehicle 10 is traveling is large, calculation may beperformed such that the communication stop time is longer than when thedegree of congestion of the route along which the emergency vehicle 10is traveling is small. The traveling speed of the emergency vehicle 10may be transmitted from the first in-vehicle device 100 to the serverdevice 300 along with the positional information when the positionalinformation of the emergency vehicle 10 is transmitted from the firstin-vehicle device 100 to the server device 300 or the server device 300may calculate the traveling speed of the emergency vehicle 10 based onvariation of the position of the emergency vehicle 10 in eachpredetermined cycle. The degree of congestion of the route along whichthe emergency vehicle 10 is traveling may be obtained using VehicleInformation and Communication System (VICS (Registered Trademark)) ormay be obtained using probe traffic information that is generated basedon a position where another vehicle actually travels, a vehicle speed ofthe another vehicle, or the like.

In a case where the communication stop request is generated in theabove-described manner, the communication stop request generation unitF330 transmits the communication stop request to the second in-vehicledevice 200 of the non-emergency vehicle 20 specified by thenon-emergency vehicle specification unit F320 (Step S104).

According to the processing flow of FIG. 7 , in the non-emergencyvehicle within the predetermined distance from the position of theemergency vehicle 10, the second in-vehicle device 200 can receive thecommunication stop request transmitted from the server device 300. Inthis case, in the second in-vehicle device 200, the communication stoprequest receiver F210 delivers the communication stop request receivedthrough the communication unit 207 to the communication stop requestprocessing unit F220. Then, the communication stop request processingunit F220 executes the processing for notifying the occupant of thenon-emergency vehicle 20 of the approach of the emergency vehicle 10 andthe processing for prompting the occupant of the non-emergency vehicle20 to stop the use of wireless communication according to the commandsincluded in the communication stop request. Specifically, as describedabove, the communication stop request processing unit F220 makes thedisplay unit 204, the speaker, or the like output the characterinformation or the voice message for notifying of the approach of theemergency vehicle 10 and the character information or the voice messagefor prompting to stop the use of wireless communication. With this, inthe non-emergency vehicle 20 within the predetermined distance from theposition of the emergency vehicle 10, it is possible to make theoccupant of the non-emergency vehicle 20 recognize the approach of theemergency vehicle 10 and stop the use of wireless communication. As aresult, it is possible to allow the occupant of the non-emergencyvehicle 20 to smoothly perform a driving operation or the like to makeway for the emergency vehicle 10, and to suppress an increase incommunication traffic near the emergency vehicle 10. In a case where anincrease in communication traffic near the emergency vehicle 10 issuppressed, it is possible to secure the quality of communication to beperformed by the first in-vehicle device 100. With this, it is possibleto suitably perform acquisition of information through wirelesscommunication even while the emergency vehicle 10 is moving.

When the command for notifying the occupant of the non-emergency vehicle20 of the communication stop time is included in the communication stoprequest, the communication stop request processing unit F220 makes thedisplay unit 204, the speaker, or the like output character informationor a voice message indicating the communication stop time of wirelesscommunication, in addition to the character information or the voicemessage for notifying of the approach of the emergency vehicle and thecharacter information or the voice message for prompting to stop the useof wireless communication. In this case, it is possible to allow theoccupant of the non-emergency vehicle 20 to restart the use of wirelesscommunication with the communication stop time as a reference. Withthis, it is possible to minimize degradation of the convenience of theoccupant of the non-emergency vehicle 20. The communication stop requestprocessing unit F220 may execute the processing for notifying theoccupant that the stop of the use of wireless communication isreleasable when the communication stop time has elapsed after thecommunication stop request is received. Modification Example of FirstEmbodiment Next, a modification example of the above-described firstembodiment will be described. In the modification example, detaileddescription of the substantially same configurations and thesubstantially same control processing as in the first embodiment willnot be repeated.

In the above-described embodiment, an example where the communicationstop request is transmitted to the non-emergency vehicle 20 near theemergency vehicle 10 regardless of a communication system usable by thefirst in-vehicle device 100 at the current position of the emergencyvehicle 10 has been described. In contrast, in the modification example,when a communication system usable by the first in-vehicle device 100 atthe current position of the emergency vehicle 10 is a predeterminedcommunication system, the communication stop request is not transmittedto the non-emergency vehicle 20 near the emergency vehicle 10.

Here, in a case where a communication system usable at the currentposition of the emergency vehicle 10 is a communication system in whichhigh-speed and large-capacity wireless communication can be performed,such as 5G or a mobile communication standard after 5G, even thoughwireless communication with a comparatively large data transfer amountis performed in the non-emergency vehicle 20 near the emergency vehicle10, the quality of wireless communication to be performed by the firstin-vehicle device 100 can be secured.

Accordingly, in the modification example, when the server device 300receives the positional information transmitted from the firstin-vehicle device 100, the server device 300 may operate according to aprocessing flow of FIG. 8 . As in FIG. 7 , the processing flow shown inFIG. 8 is executed with the reception of the positional information fromthe first in-vehicle device 100 as a trigger. In FIG. 8 , the sameprocessing as in FIG. 7 described above is represented by the samereference numerals.

In the processing flow of FIG. 8 , after the processing of Step S101 isexecuted, processing of Step S1101 is executed. In Step S1101, theemergency vehicle position acquisition unit F310 determines whether ornot the current position of the emergency vehicle 10 acquired in StepS101 is outside an area of a predetermined communication system. Thatis, the emergency vehicle position acquisition unit F310 determineswhether or not the current position of the emergency vehicle 10 deviatesfrom the area where the predetermined communication system is usable.The term “predetermined communication system” used herein is acommunication system in which high-speed and large-capacity wirelesscommunication can be performed, and even though wireless communicationwith a comparatively large data transfer amount is performed in thenon-emergency vehicle near the emergency vehicle 10, the quality ofwireless communication to be performed by the first in-vehicle device100 can be secured, such as 5G or a mobile communication standard after5G. In regard to the area where such a predetermined communicationsystem is usable, map information for identifying the area may be storedin advance in the main storage unit 302 or the auxiliary storage unit303 of the server device 300. The map information may be acquired usingan external service. FIG. 9 is a diagram showing an example of the mapinformation for identifying the area where the predeterminedcommunication system is usable. In FIG. 9 , hatched areas indicate areaswhere the predetermined communication system is usable. The emergencyvehicle position acquisition unit F310 plots the current position of theemergency vehicle on a map shown in FIG. 9 and determines whether or notthe plotted position belongs to the area where the predeterminedcommunication system is usable (belongs to the hatched area in FIG. 9 ).

Here, in a case where the current position of the emergency vehicle 10is within the area of the predetermined communication system (in StepS1101, negative determination), the server device 300 does not executethe processing of S102 to S104 and ends the processing flow. On theother hand, in a case where the current position of the emergencyvehicle 10 is outside the area of the predetermined communication system(in Step S1101, affirmative determination), the server device 300executes the processing of S102 to S104.

According to the processing flow of FIG. 8 , when the position of theemergency vehicle 10 is within the area where the predeterminedcommunication system is usable, it is possible to secure the quality ofwireless communication to be performed by the first in-vehicle device100 without restricting the use of wireless communication in thenon-emergency vehicle 20 near the emergency vehicle 10. With this, it ispossible to further minimize degradation of the convenience of theoccupant of the non-emergency vehicle 20.

Second Embodiment

In the above-described first embodiment, although an example where thecommunication stop request to the second in-vehicle device 200 istransmitted from the server device 300 has been described, an examplewhere the communication stop request to the second in-vehicle device 200is transmitted from the first in-vehicle device 100 will be described.

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration ofeach of a first in-vehicle device 100, a second in-vehicle device 200,and a server device 300 in the embodiment. The hardware configuration ofthe server device 300 is the same as in the above-described firstembodiment, and thus, description thereof will not be repeated.

The first in-vehicle device 100 has a short-distance communication unit108, in addition to the processor 101, the main storage unit 102, theauxiliary storage unit 103, the display unit 104, the input unit 105,the position acquisition unit 106, and the communication unit 107. Theprocessor 101, the main storage unit 102, the auxiliary storage unit103, the display unit 104, the input unit 105, the position acquisitionunit 106, and the communication unit 107 are the same as those of thefirst in-vehicle device 100 in the above-described first embodiment, andthus, description thereof will not be repeated. The short-distancecommunication unit 108 performs communication at a short distance (tosuch an extent that communication within a predetermined distance can beperformed) using a predetermined wireless communication standard. In theexample, the short-distance communication unit 108 performs datacommunication using BLE. The short-distance communication unit 108 mayperform short-distance communication using NFC, UWB, Wi-Fi, or the like.

The second in-vehicle device 200 has a short-distance communication unit208, in addition to the processor 201, the main storage unit 202, theauxiliary storage unit 203, the display unit 204, the input unit 205,the position acquisition unit 206, and the communication unit 207. Theprocessor 201, the main storage unit 202, the auxiliary storage unit203, the display unit 204, the input unit 205, the position acquisitionunit 206, the communication unit 207, and the short-distancecommunication unit 208 are the same as the processor 101, the mainstorage unit 102, the auxiliary storage unit 103, the display unit 104,the input unit 105, the position acquisition unit 106, the communicationunit 107, and the short-distance communication unit 108 of the firstin-vehicle device 100, and thus, description thereof will not berepeated.

Next, the functional configuration of the first in-vehicle device 100 inthe embodiment will be described referring to FIG. 11 . FIG. 11 is ablock diagram illustrating the functional configuration of the firstin-vehicle device 100 in the embodiment. As shown in FIG. 11 , the firstin-vehicle device 100 in the example includes, as a functionalcomponent, a communication stop request generation unit F110. Thecommunication stop request generation unit F110 is formed by theprocessor 101 of the first in-vehicle device 100 executing the computerprogram on the main storage unit 102. A part of the function of thecommunication stop request generation unit F1110 may be executed by ahardware circuit.

The communication stop request generation unit F110 generates thecommunication stop request and transmits the generated communicationstop request through broadcast communication. A generation method of thecommunication stop request is the same as in the above-described firstembodiment, and thus, description thereof will not be repeated. Thecommunication stop request generation unit F110 transmits the generatedcommunication stop request through broadcast communication using theshort-distance communication unit 108. Here, as described above, since adistance at which a radio wave transmitted from the short-distancecommunication unit 108 reaches is substantially equal to thepredetermined distance, the communication stop request transmittedthrough the short-distance communication unit 108 is inevitably receivedby the second in-vehicle device 200 (short-distance communication unit208) of the non-emergency vehicle 20 within the predetermined distancefrom the current position of the emergency vehicle 10. That is, eventhough the processing for specifying the non-emergency vehicle 20 withinthe predetermined distance from the current position of the emergencyvehicle 10 is not executed on the first in-vehicle device 100 side, thecommunication stop request is received solely by the second in-vehicledevice 200 of the non-emergency vehicle 20 near the emergency vehicle10. It is assumed that the generation processing of the communicationstop request and the transmission processing of the communication stoprequest in the communication stop request generation unit F110 arerepeatedly executed in a predetermined cycle when the emergency vehicle10 is in the emergency traveling state.

According to the embodiment, it is possible to obtain the same operationand effects as in the above-described first embodiment without dependingon the server device 300. With this, it is possible to reduce the loadof the server device 300.

Others

The above-described embodiments are just examples, and the disclosuremay be appropriately modified and carried out without departing from thespirit and scope of the disclosure.

The processing or units described in the present disclosure can befreely combined and implemented as long as no technical contradictionarises. Processing described to be executed by one device may be sharedand executed by a plurality of devices. Alternatively, processingdescribed to be executed by different devices may be executed by onedevice. In a computer system, a hardware configuration that implementseach function may be flexibly changed.

The disclosure may also be implemented by supplying a computer programmounted with the functions described in the above-described embodimentsto a computer and causing one or more processors in the computer to readand execute the program. Such a computer program may be provided to thecomputer by a non-transitory computer-readable storage mediumconnectable to a system bus of the computer or may be provided to thecomputer through a network. The non-transitory computer-readable storagemedium is a recording medium that stores information, such as data orprograms, by means of electrical, magnetic, optical, mechanical, orchemical action and can be read from a computer or the like, and is, anytype of disk, such as a magnetic disk (a Floppy (Registered Trademark)disk, a hard disk drive (HDD), or the like), an optical disc (a CD-ROM,a DVD, a Blu-ray disc, or the like), or a medium, such as a read onlymemory (ROM), a random access memory (RAM), an EPROM, an EEPROM, amagnetic card, a flash memory, an optical card, or a solid state drive(SSD).

What is claimed is:
 1. A server device configured to communicate with acommunication device mounted in a vehicle, the server device comprisinga controller configured to execute: acquiring a position of an emergencyvehicle; identifying a non-emergency vehicle at a predetermined distancefrom the acquired position of the emergency vehicle; and transmitting,to a communication device mounted in the non-emergency vehicle, arequest as information requiring the non-emergency vehicle to stop useof wireless communication.
 2. The server device according to claim 1,wherein the request includes information indicating a communication stoptime as a time during which the use of the wireless communication isstopped.
 3. The server device according to claim 2, wherein thecontroller is configured to calculate the communication stop time basedon at least one of a traveling speed of the emergency vehicle andcongestion information of a route along which the emergency vehicle istraveling.
 4. The server device according to claim 1, wherein thecontroller is configured to transmit the request to the communicationdevice of the non-emergency vehicle only when the position of theemergency vehicle is outside an area where a predetermined communicationsystem is usable.
 5. The server device according to claim 2, wherein thecontroller is configured to transmit the request to the communicationdevice of the non-emergency vehicle only when the position of theemergency vehicle is outside an area where a predetermined communicationsystem is usable.
 6. The server device according to claim 3, wherein thecontroller is configured to transmit the request to the communicationdevice of the non-emergency vehicle only when the position of theemergency vehicle is outside an area where a predetermined communicationsystem is usable.
 7. An in-vehicle device mounted in an emergencyvehicle and configured to communicate with a device outside theemergency vehicle, the in-vehicle device comprising: a controllerconfigured to transmit, to a communication device mounted in anon-emergency vehicle, a request as information requiring thenon-emergency vehicle to stop use of wireless communication when thenon-emergency vehicle is a predetermined distance from a position of theemergency vehicle.
 8. The in-vehicle device according to claim 7,further comprising a short-distance communication device configured totransmit the request to the non-emergency vehicle.
 9. The in-vehicledevice according to claim 8, wherein the predetermined distance from theposition of the emergency vehicle is equal to a communicable range ofthe short-distance communication device.
 10. The in-vehicle deviceaccording to claim 7, wherein the request includes informationindicating a communication stop time as a time during which the use ofthe wireless communication is stopped.
 11. The in-vehicle deviceaccording to claim 10, wherein the controller is configured to calculatethe communication stop time based on at least one of a traveling speedof the emergency vehicle and congestion information of a route alongwhich the emergency vehicle is traveling.
 12. The in-vehicle deviceaccording to claim 9, wherein the request includes informationindicating a communication stop time as a time during which the use ofthe wireless communication is stopped.
 13. The in-vehicle deviceaccording to claim 7, wherein the controller is configured to transmitthe request to the communication device of the non-emergency vehicleonly when the position of the emergency vehicle is outside an area wherea predetermined communication system is usable.
 14. The in-vehicledevice according to claim 9, wherein the controller is configured totransmit the request to the communication device of the non-emergencyvehicle only when the position of the emergency vehicle is outside anarea where a predetermined communication system is usable.
 15. Aninformation processing method comprising: acquiring a position of anemergency vehicle; specifying a non-emergency vehicle at a predetermineddistance from the acquired position of the emergency vehicle; andtransmitting a request as information requiring the non-emergencyvehicle to stop use of wireless communication to a communication devicemounted in the non-emergency vehicle.
 16. The information processingmethod according to claim 15, wherein the request includes informationindicating a communication stop time as a time during which the use ofthe wireless communication is stopped.
 17. The information processingmethod according to claim 16, wherein the communication stop time isbased on at least one of a traveling speed of the emergency vehicle andcongestion information of a route along which the emergency vehicle istraveling.
 18. The information processing method according to claim 15,wherein the request is only transmitted to the communication device ofthe non-emergency vehicle in a case where the position of the emergencyvehicle is outside an area where a predetermined communication system isusable.
 19. The information processing method according to claim 16,wherein the request is only transmitted to the communication device ofthe non-emergency vehicle in a case where the position of the emergencyvehicle is within an area where a predetermined communication system isusable.
 20. The information processing method according to claim 17,wherein the request is only transmitted to the communication device ofthe non-emergency vehicle in a case where the position of the emergencyvehicle is within an area where a predetermined communication system isusable.